


We Might Fall

by UseTheTongsCarl



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bev helps everyone sort their shit out, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Fix-It, How Do I Tag, I wrote this mostly for me?, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Pining, Post-Canon Fix-It, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Slow Burn, kind of?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 11:02:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20599700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UseTheTongsCarl/pseuds/UseTheTongsCarl
Summary: After saving Eddie, Richie has one final fear he hopes to face, telling Eddie how he feels.OrRichie has no idea how he managed to save Eddie's life, until he realizes it was the deadlights that let him see what happened, let him experience the grief of losing his first love. Knowing that he can't lose Eddie again Richie tries to work up the courage to tell Eddie how he feels.





	We Might Fall

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first reddie fic! (please be kind) it's been a while since I've written anything, so I apologize for how awful this probably is. I mostly wrote this to make myself feel better, maybe it'll help you feel better too. This will probably be 3 short chapters? I have most of the next chapter written and a pretty solid idea for the third  
**Enjoy!**

Eddie was hovering over Richie, ecstatic to have saved the man he had failed just a short while ago. He really was brave, Richie was right, he killed IT. Richie had believed in him, more than anyone had, hell even more than he ever believed in himself. He felt so… free. Free from the constant doubt Myra put on him over his safety, acting like he was some weak and fragile child, like, like… like his mother always had. No, Richie was different, Richie saw him, for who he truly was, Richie had always known him better than anyone.

Eddie, in his triumph, hadn’t been paying any attention to his surroundings, so when Richie suddenly shoved him off, sending him rolling onto the rocky ground beside them, he was caught off guard. As he rolled, however he spotted a giant claw hit the ground where he and Richie had just been. How the hell Richie managed to see that, push him out of the way and dodge that ghastly thing was beyond Eddie.

“Holy fucking shit” Eddie exclaimed, scrambling to get up gaping at the claw that had almost impaled him, now stuck in the ground.

“Yeah, Eds, real good job.” Richie shouted, “you really got em”

“Fuck You.” Eddie yelled, carefully eyeing the still recovering form of Pennywise, as it struggled to get it’s claw free“I still saved your ass, Tozier”

“My ass thanks you” bit back Richie

“Your ass -“ Eddie started, continuing to bicker with Richie, when he was suddenly flung across the cavern, falling hard to the ground, and rolling down into a narrow passage.

“Eddie!” Richie shouted, echoed by the rest of the losers, who all ran towards the spot where Eddie had disappeared from view.

Richie stumbled down the rocky embankment and reached the seemingly unconscious Eddie ahead of all the other losers, quickly kneeling down beside where he lay on the damp cavern floor. 

“No, no, no, this can’t be happening.” Richie whispered, panic rising in his voice. “Eddie?” He shook the smaller man lightly, gripping his shoulders. The others had all come to stand around the two of them, “Eddie!?” He shook him slightly harder, desperation growing, _he needed Eddie to be okay, he needed him to make it through this… he needed him to know how he felt. He needed to tell him that he -_“Eddie!” he cried, voice breaking, he shook him again, pleading with him to wake up. Ben grabbed Richie’s arm, halting him from shaking Eddie.

“Rich, I don’t think that’s helping” Ben soothed, trying his best to calm down a frantic Richie, who looked around at all of the losers, just now realizing they were crowded around him and Eddie.

Uncertain of what to do, unsure of his own voice, he looked back to Eddie, shifting so he could cradle his friend’s limp body, propping Eddie up against his knee. “Eds, please” he whispered, voice thick with emotion, he wrapped his arms around the smaller man, burying his face in the crook of Eddie’s neck. “I can’t lose you, not again” he whispered against Eddie’s skin.

“Didn’t know you cared so much, trashmouth” Eddie whispered weakly, with a chuckle, slowly shifting, attempting to pull away from Richie. Richie only pulled him tighter, letting out a shaky breath, and Eddie could have sworn Richie was crying.

Eddie heard the relieved sighs of the other losers, as they realized he was okay. He heard some indistinct chatter about Pennywise and what they were going to do, but he couldn’t focus on that, all he could focus on was Richie, who was still gripping him like if he let go Eddie would just float away.

“Rich?” Eddie questioned, and Richie pulled away slowly, his eyes meeting Eddie’s bewildered gaze.

“I thought you-“ Richie cleared his throat, looking away “Eds, I -“ Richie looked back to Eddie, staring deeply into the smaller man’s soft, questioning eyes.

“Guys!” Bill shouted, getting their attention as an enraged Pennywise was snapping at the narrow opening while the other losers argued on a plan. “ Arguing isn’t going to h-he-help!” Everyone fell silent.

“I almost killed it, the leper.” Eddie said, quietly, almost questioning himself. “I had my hands around it’s throat, I could feel it choking”

“Didn’t know you were into choking, Eds,” Richie interrupted, walls going back up, back to the funny man, playing the part they all expected of him, doing what he did best, “good to know” he wriggled his eyebrows.

“Beep Beep, Richie” Bev said, glaring at him.

Eddie rolled his eyes and with a scowl he pushed Richie away from him before continuing, “it was so small and so weak”

“The, Shokopiwah,” Mike exclaimed, lightbulb going off “all living things must obey the laws of the form they inhabit,”

“The passageway, when we first came in, we can make him smaller so he has to fit through, shrink him down to size” said Bev, understanding.

Richie looked at all his friends, confused, he was having the weirdest sense of deja-vu. _This wouldn’t work, they wouldn’t be able to get to the passageway. Pennywise would block their attempt._

“And then we kill IT” Bill added

“Wait -“ Richie interjected, looking away shaking his head, “No, that, it - it doesn’t work” He shook his head, a confused look on his face, “We just have to make him believe he’s small” he added, his words uncertain.

“Why wouldn’t - What do you mean” Bill questioned,

“Make him believe he’s small, how would we-” Ben added

“Look -“ Richie took a deep breath, “I don’t know, I can’t explain, I just - I _know_ this’ll work, trust me.” Richie looked around the cavern at his friends’ skeptic faces, eyes landing on Eddie with a pleading look. 

“If Richie says It’ll work, I believe him. I trust him.” Eddie said softly, eyes never leaving Richie’s, nodding confidently.

“How do we-“ Bill started to ask, interrupting their brief moment, again.

“We make him feel small, he’s just a clown.” Richie stated simply, getting up and offering his hand to Eddie. Eddie gladly took the hand, wincing as he stood, a bit unsteady on his feet. “Whoa, you alright there, spaghetti” Richie put a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder to stabilize him.

Eddie took a deep breath, wincing in pain again, “A little sore, but I’ll be alright Rich” he nodded. Richie looked to Eddie and to the passageway, unsure if Eddie was really okay, unsure of himself, if he was being honest. “I’m fine, let’s go kill this fucking clown” Eddie said quietly, reassuring Richie.

Richie nodded, a smile spread across his face “Let’s kill this fucking clown” Richie repeated with determination. He turned on his heels and headed for the passageway, that somehow he knew would lead them back to the main cavern, gesturing for all the losers to follow him.

They all followed Richie’s lead going after Pennywise, yelling at him, each of them calling him the form they saw him as, an old woman, a headless boy, a clown, a leper, a mimic. He shrunk and shrunk as the losers forced him back, taking his power until finally he was a sad small clown that was no match for the losers club. Mike tentatively walked up towards a whimpering Pennywise, slowly he ripped out the heart of the beast, pulling back for the losers to join him in destroying what had plagued them, plagued Derry for such a long time. They all tore into the frantic beating heart, disgusted satisfaction overtaking them as they felt the heart turn into goo, in their grasp.

The satisfaction however, was short-lived when the entire cavern began to shake as it began to crumble.

“Shit, we’ve gotta get outta here!” Richie exclaimed

“This way!” Bill shouted as he led the losers out the way they came, quickly escaping the tunnels and narrowly escaping the Neibolt house before it completely imploded and collapsed on itself.

Richie stood there, watching as the house collapsed, a sense of panic, heartbreak and loss rising in his chest for a reason he couldn’t quite understand. He felt the overwhelming urge to run back in there, like there was something in there that he desperately needed to find, something he had left behind. _someone_

“You okay, Rich” Eddie asked, placing a hand on the taller man’s shoulder.

And just like that, those sudden unexplained feelings were gone the moment he looked into Eddie’s concerned eyes. He let out a sigh of relief almost knocking Eddie over as he desperately threw his arms around the other man, clinging to his friend as if his life depended on it. _Maybe it did._

“We made it” was all Richie managed to say.

**Author's Note:**

> **Next chapter:**  
“That’s what makes it so-“ he gestured, waving his hands around “fucked up” he chuckled, wiping his eyes, and letting out a shaky breath. “It just - felt so -“  
“Real.” She said, knowingly. He nodded.  
They both heard someone behind them clear their throat and quickly turned to find Eddie standing there, awkwardly, arms folded.
> 
> thanks for reading! hope it wasn't too awful and that you enjoyed it!


End file.
